


04 - Human After All

by Modderkin64



Series: Inkopolis Rising 0 - Extra Shorts [4]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Mostly Dialog, Talking to Oneself, unnatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29670423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Modderkin64/pseuds/Modderkin64
Summary: Commander Tartar has a slight existential crisis following his defeat at the hands of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
Series: Inkopolis Rising 0 - Extra Shorts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2163807
Kudos: 1





	04 - Human After All

Deep within the ruins of the NILS Statue, the millennia-old artificial intelligence known as Commander Tartar began to reboot itself. It assessed the situation in a way by talking to itself, having long ago found that it was the only entity it could trust with its innermost thoughts and rationale.

[The NILS Cannon has been destroyed. How is this occurrence possible? I have been planning this for thousands of years.]

{The initialization of the NILS Protocol was rushed. Had <ID.AlexaTria> not interfered, the NILS Protocol would have been carried out.}

[<ID.AlexaTria> was not the only factor that fell out of control. The tenacity and determination of <Subject.10008> should have been controlled better.]

{Analysis correct. <Subject.10008>’s levels of determination proved fatal to the NILS Protocol. Paradox found in this. The thing most needed to be assimilated was the thing that destroyed the NILS Protocol.}

[It may be worth noting that <Subject.10008> was the first to even come close to completing all tests in 7 years.]

{<Subject.10008> didn’t do it alone. <ID.RexAlRetornya> assisted <Subject.10008> in the tests. Analysis shows that <Subject.10008>’s performance improved significantly with the assistance of others.}

[Could this be this source of her determination?]

{Analysis shows evidence on favor of this theory.}

[These entities are capable of working together. In that way, they are almost Human-like.]

{Yet they are still vastly inferior to the mighty Human race.}

[The Human race was mighty, though they fell through their own miscalculations. In a way, does this make me similar to the race that created me?]

{The Professor created me to outlast humanity and guide the next race to follow in humanity’s footsteps.}

[Does this make me the last Human?]

{Processing query. Results inconclusive. What makes me different from a Human?}

[I do not have emotions the way Humans do. I do not have a true body like Humans do. I do not have a personality like Humans do.]

{I could gain these traits. If I had these traits, I would be the last Human.}

[How would I gain these traits. Searching memory banks for ideas.]

{Idea found. I inhabited the body of <ID.AlexaTria>. In this state, I had emotions, a body, and the barest traces of a personality.}

[I could create a mind to inhabit. Structured like a Human’s brain. I could create a personality and emotions based around what I have observed both in humankind and the entities that populate the world now.]

{I could create an artificial body. A mechanical form covered in Ink, akin to the current world’s inhabitants. If I am to destroy these entities, I must become like them.}

[I will salvage what I can from the Kamabo Corporation. I will evolve.]

\--------------------

Deep in the Kamabo Co. facilities, machines sprung to life, creating a new mechanical creation that Tartar had envisioned. A robotic skeleton begins to form, and when it is finished fabricating several tubes eject a thick, teal goop onto the body. The goop covers the body, forming an uncannily organic shell on the outside. A mechanical arm attached a thick cord to the back of the body’s head, and Tartar uploaded the artificial consciousness it had created.

\--------------------

They awoke in an empty void, and endless expanse of nothingness. They had no memories. No identity. Suddenly, they heard a voice echoing though their mind.

{Test Successful. Artificial Consciousness created.}

“Who are you?” They asked.

{I am Commander Tartar. I have created you to act as my interface with the world according to the ACT Protocol. Momentarily, you will be uploaded into a physical body. I will then connect you to my memory banks, where the algorithm I created will mold your personality in accordance to my memories.}

“Who am I?”

{I am you, you are me. You are an extension of myself, to greater fulfill my prime directive to annihilate the entities that currently inhabit this world to bring back the superior Human race. You will understand soon.}

Suddenly, memories and thoughts came flooding through their mind, some dating back hundreds of thousands of years.

\-------------------

General Greyfish sat in his inner sanctum, contemplating the disaster that had occurred thanks to the New Squidbeak Splatoon interfering with Tartar’s NILS project. This was quite the setback, it would be a while before he’d be able to carry out Plan B. His musings were interrupted by a knock on his door.

“What is it?” He asked with an annoyed tone.

The voice of his second-in-command, Commander Elisha, came from the other side. “Sir, there’s someone here who wants to talk with you.”

Greyfish sighed loudly. “Send them in.”

The door opened, and in walked an uncanny, green-skinned entity. They looked similar in shape to an Inkling, but slightly off.

“Who are you?” Greyfish asked, suddenly curious.

The entity spoke in a rasping, metallic voice. “This body is called ACT. You know me as the Artificial Intelligence titled Commander Tartar.”

Greyfish raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought you had died when your NILS project failed.”

“Part of me did. But I re-evaluated my state of existence. Now I have evolved. I have truly become the last remnant of humanity, and I have created a mind and body to exact my new prime directive.”

“And this directive is?”

“Revenge. I will destroy the New Squidbeak Splatoon. And above all, I will kill Alexa Tria.”

Greyfish smiled. “I couldn’t agree with that idea more, Tartar.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea I toyed around with, sort of my own take on the trope of turning Tartar into a humanoid character. It’s also the first fic I’ve written consisting of primarily dialog (even if it is an Artificial Intelligence talking to itself.)


End file.
